U.S. drone crashes in Kuwait: Kuwaiti defense ministry

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A pilotless U.S. military drone crashed in rural Kuwait on Sunday, causing no injuries, the small Gulf Arab state's defense ministry said in a statement.

The incident occurred in Bir Mutla, the ministry said, near the Ali Al Salem air base which hosts U.S. air force personnel and planes.

A close ally of the U.S. since American forces helped liberate the country after an Iraqi invasion in 1990, Kuwait has provided intelligence, funding and the use of airfields for attacks by some members of a Western-Arab coalition fighting Islamic State militants based in Syria and Iraq.